Columns

All of the state’s irrigation ditches are diversions from the river basins that stem from an enduring Hispanic and Native American cultural ancestry that is part of the historical record long before New Mexico became a territory or was awarded statehood.

Since the start of a new school year brings new adventures in education, and since reading and writing are essential to a good education, and since there’s a fair number people who have trouble with reading and writing, I offer up a case study — myself.

Last March, if you saw my one-act play “Valentine for Velma” at Charlie’s Event Space, you met my brother as enacted by the talented Mykle Williams who did a great job of portraying the irresponsible yet charming sibling of a controlling yet caring older sister (me).

On one side of the street is a highly emotional mob of people with slogan-filled signs. They deeply believe in their cause. Collectively, they chant in unison. They are still contained but are real close to exploding out of control.

The former New Mexico governor and current Libertarian Party candidate for president is getting some attention by the national media as an alternative to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Polls are showing, and have been for some time now, that the majority of Americans don’t like Clinton or Trump, and Johnson’s subtle but important rise in the polls suggests that he, more so than Green Party candidate Jill Stein, is a legitimate third choice.

¿Qué pasa? During the City Council meeting back on June 8 and in the July 2 Optic, I raised an inquiry about delays in solving Las Vegas’ primary water issue, storage. It’s now August and there still has been no visible action from the City. Let me explain the issue again, with perhaps a little more detail, as I repeated at the City Council meeting on July 20.

Let’s have some fun today and learn some math. We often make life more complicated than it is. We don’t have to be an expert at playing chess to plan three moves ahead in our lives. We don’t have to understand how electricity works to be able to enjoy its benefits. We don’t need to know how to solve algebra problems to be able to keep things balanced in this world.

Life sometimes is as simple as addition and subtraction. Nothing more, nothing less.

New Mexico faces an economic crisis — not a budget crisis — that can be solved, but not easily, quickly or cheaply.

We have not recovered from the Great Recession of 2008. Wages are up slightly in New Mexico, even considering inflation, but the number of jobs is well below pre-recession levels, and the state’s population is essentially unchanged since 2010, as people in their 20s and 30s move to other states in search of work. This is all reflected in the state’s budget, which is, as expected, about the same as it was in 2008.